Dwight Howard on Stan Van Gundy Firing: ‘I Had Nothing to Do With it’

Stan Van Gundy came out and publicly declared that he knew his star player was trying to get him fired. A month later, the Orlando Magic relieved SVG of his duties. But according to Dwight Howard, this had nothing to do with Dwight Howard. From TMZ: “Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard says he had nothing to do with the team’s decision to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy. ‘I hate to see anyone lose their job.’ Howard — who’s still rehabbing from back surgery in L.A. — was out in Beverly Hills [Thursday] morning when we asked how he felt about his coach’s recent termination. ‘Me and Stan, we had our ups and downs but for the most part we had one goal, to win a championship in Orlando, but we fell short.’ When asked about speculation that he had a role in the decision to can Stan, Howard said, ‘I’m glad [Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins] confirmed I had nothing to do with it.’ Howard is also concerned about an interview scheduled to air on ESPN [Friday] night — telling us it was shot back in April … and insists the content is ‘old and inaccurate.’ Though Howard didn’t say which part of the interview he was referring to specifically, he did warn, ‘A lot of stuff has changed since then.'”